American Go E-Journal

Yuan Zhou 7D, a popular teacher and frequent competitor in top U.S. tournaments, will be the U.S. representative to this year’s World Amateur Go Championship, which will be held in Guanzhou, China in May. “I am excited to represent the U.S. and play in the WAGC,” Zhou (at right) told the E-Journal. “It took me lots of hard work and many tough matches to earn the right to become the U.S. representative. The competition will be very severe. All WAGC players are strong, and there will be no easy matches.”

This is just the third time in the 33-year history of the WAGC that it will be held outside Japan, “signifying a changing international go scene,” reports Thomas Hsiang, the American Go Association’s representative to the International Go Federation, where he’s vice president. “It’s expected at least half of all future WAGC will be sponsored by a non-Japanese city and it’s not out of the question that we may have it in North America one day.” The venue of this year’s WAGC, the Guangzhou Qiyuan, is a “magnificent, huge, board-game center where the mind-sport competitions of the 2010 Asian Games were held,” Hsiang adds.

The E-Journal will provide full onsite coverage of the event, thanks again to generous support from the IGF, providing the AGA membership glimpses of the venue, along with stories and game records of the event.